Cliché: go belly up, to

Meaning: failure, bankruptcy, even death (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: tank with the fishes
Rewrite 2: suffer a goldfish swirly
Rewrite 3: go all rigor mortise on us
Rewrite 4: time in the elephant burial grounds
Rewrite 5: headed for the hereafter


Comment: It's hard to write metaphorically about the death of something without sounding maudlin or even insensitive. I tried to cover various caricatures of death for more picturesque speech. 


How would you twist this one? Send me a shout-out via Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Writing about death
(commission may be paid for purchase)

Cliché: death by a thousand cuts

Meaning: a slow and painful loss (example)


Rewrite 1: death by a thousand needles
Rewrite 2: death by shrapnel
Rewrite 3: death by medical drip
Rewrite 4: loss of a thousand souls
Rewrite 5: bleeding by a thousand leeches
Rewrite 6: blinking away of a night's stars


Comments: Wasn't that morbid! I moved from methods of death to senses of loss, which are common uses of this cliché. Now I need a stiff drink.


Come cheer me up on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...


The "bible" for aspiring writers
(commission may be paid for purchases)

Cliché: dead as a doornail

meaning: lifeless or useless like a nail used in a door (example 1, example 2, example 3)


Rewrite 1: dead as a coffin nail
Rewrite 2: lifeless as a wood screw
Rewrite 3: dead as a deep winter's night
Rewrite 4: dead as a double shot in a bullseye
Rewrite 5: dead as a confederate dollar
Rewrite 6: dead as a tooth on the dentist's floor
Rewrite 7: dead as a Martian dune
Rewrite 8: dead as a basketball after the buzzer


Comments: In the first couple of rewrites I tried to stick with the heart of the cliché. Then I tried to provide some uses for "dead" beyond the strict meaning of death - and there are many! How many ways can you recast this classic cliché knowing how many more ways you can use the word "dead"?


Catch me on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...


Working with more similes
(commission may be paid for purchases)


Similes Dictionary
Elyse Sommer (Hardcover - Apr 1988)